Four people lost their lives and a lot of damage was caused from the heavy snowfall in Aomori Prefecture in northern Japan due to the strong cold front that hit the country at the end of the year and during the New Year holidays.

According to the Aomori Prefectural Police, four people died due to snow in the first week of 2025 in four municipalities, including Hirozaki and Towada. The victims died trying to remove the snow from the roofs.

Yesterday, Tuesday, the prefecture implemented the disaster response law in 10 municipalities, including the city of Aomori. It is the first time in 13 years that the prefecture has implemented the law to deal with snow disasters.

Snowfall Japan

According to the Japan Meteorological Agency, snow reached 139cm in Aomori on Sunday, while snow in Hirozaki reached 115cm.

The prefecture formed a special team to deal with the heavy snowfall on Saturday and decided to implement the law to stop the possibility of further damage. With this move, municipalities that remove snow from houses in danger of collapse will have those costs covered by the central government and the prefecture.

Cold front on the Sea of ​​Japan side

Due to the strong winter pressure, extremely cold air is moving over Japan, which could cause heavy snowfall on the Sea of ​​Japan side from Wednesday to Friday. This can develop into blizzards and snowfall. There is also concern that more and more snow will accumulate in a short period of time, particularly on the Sea of ​​Japan side in northern and eastern Japan.

The service calls for vigilance for the traffic hazards that lurk from the snowfall, from the snow that accumulates on power lines and also from avalanches.